$4B in DSH Cuts Likely Delayed Until Dec. 20

If the Senate passes the stopgap, President Trump is expected to sign it. 

With a federal government shutdown looming at midnight, the Senate is expected today to vote on a continuing resolution to fund the federal government until December 20.

The stopgap measure, which passed the House 231-192 on Tuesday, includes a provision that would delay for one month the $4 billion in hospital disproportionate share cuts for hospitals.

The stopgap is expected to be signed by President Donald J. Trump.

The American Hospital Association issued a statement called the “temporary delay is a step in the right direction toward ensuring hospitals can continue to care for the most vulnerable in our communities."

"Until a more sustainable, permanent solution is reached, we continue to urge that these cuts be delayed for at least two fiscal years," AHA said.

CNN reports that the Senate had hoped to pass the resolution Wednesday, but the effort got bogged down for procedural reasons. Senate aides told the cable news network that objections had been resolved.

"Nothing is easy," Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota, told CNN.   

In September, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its final rule for instituting $4 billion in cuts to DSHs at the start of fiscal year 2020, which is October 1. CMS first introduced these cuts in 2017 and has received significant push-back from DSH advocates since.

Bruce Siegel, MD, CEO of America's Essential Hospitals, said earlier this year that "the trajectory of the cuts — $44 billion over six years — simply would be unsustainable for essential hospitals, which already operate with no or narrow margins and high levels of uncompensated care."